FILE - A July 19, 2012, file photo shows a corn field near Springfield, Neb. The USDA is releasing its first estimate of the 2013 crop size in its spring planting report on Thursday, March 28, 2013.

Written by

Christopher Doering
Gannett Washington Bureau

U.S. farmers will plant the most corn since 1936 as growers look to take advantage of high prices brought on by last year's drought, the Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The forecasted 97.3 million acres of corn sowed in 2013 would be a step toward rebuilding razor-thin supplies that suffered as yields plunged during the drought in 2012 - the worst to hit the United States since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. In Indiana alone, farmers have received a record crop-insurance payout of more than $1 billion.

Soybean plantings are forecast at 77.1 million acres, down slightly from last year, but ...